Welcome Back, Chooch: Carlos Ruiz Batting 8th Tonight

Welcome Back, Chooch: Carlos Ruiz Batting 8th Tonight

Now here’s a welcome sight. Carlos Ruiz, who hasn’t played since May 19, will skip the remainder of his rehab appearances and join the Phillies tonight. Is the club starting to get healthy just in the nick of time to save their season?

Not so fast. The Fightins may have eked out a win over the Nationals last night, but coming off of that horrid 3-7 road trip, #PlayoffTalk is a long way off.

Getting Chooch back in the lineup is a good first step in the right direction though. Since Erik Kratz was lost to a torn meniscus on June 8, the Phillies haven’t had a whole lot of production from their catchers. Humberto Quintero and Steven Lerud were 5-for-25 with two runs and three RBI, but no walks and just one extra base hit.

Ruiz’s 2013 numbers don’t look all that great, in part because he was suspended for the first 25 games of the season. The stroke appeared to be returning before his injury though. He was in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak when he was removed early in his last game due to the hamstring injury that sidelined him for the past month.

Ruiz is batting .235 (.286 OBP) with five runs and two RBI this season. But after demonstrating a surprising amount of power in 2012, he has just two extra base hits in 16 games, none for home runs.

That could change tonight. The last time he saw Nats starter Ross Detwiler (2-4, 3.02), Chooch came through in a big way, jacking a three-run shot off of the lefty in a 6-3 Phils victory last September. Ruiz is 3-for-14 lifetime against Detwiler.

"The two games that I played in Lehigh, it felt great," he said. "I felt real good at home plate and it surprised me because I hadn't faced live pitching in a long time, but the at bats I had felt really good. I'm ready to go."

Then again, Ruiz will be batting eighth tonight as Charlie Manuel tries to ease him back into the lineup, so perhaps expectations should be adjusted accordingly. On the bright side, Cliff Lee (8-2, 2.55) is on the hill for the Phillies, so you gotta like their chances to win tonight, which would guarantee a series win over their NL East rivals.

That might be the only bright side in this weather though. Sounds like they should be able to get the game in, albeit it there might be a delay.

In cruel twist, former Eagle Byron Maxwell one of NFL's top corners now

In cruel twist, former Eagle Byron Maxwell one of NFL's top corners now

Remember how excited you were when the Eagles signed Byron Maxwell to a huge free-agent contract in 2015? Remember how much more excited you were this past April when the team traded Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to the Dolphins to move up five spots in the first round of the NFL draft?

Well, as it turns out, Maxwell may not have been the dog most everybody in Philadelphia seemed to think he was. At least, the sixth-year veteran is having a good enough season in Miami to boast without a hint of irony that he's the best cornerback in the league, and smart writer-types like Armando Salguero for the Miami Herald are actually buying it.

Maxwell's performance this season has him so filled with confidence, he's going right after Cardinals All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson for an imaginary title.

“Man, listen, if he wants to say that, he can say that. I’m pretty sure he believes that,” Maxwell said of Peterson being the best. “Just like I believe I’m the best.

“Nothing against him, he is a great cornerback. The answer depends on who you ask.”

The answer might depend who you ask, but pretty sure the only people who would respond with "Byron Maxwell" are Maxwell himself and maybe a few people in his family. I'm not even sure Maxwell's own mother would proclaim him the best corner in the NFL.

This isn't just Philly picking a bone with Maxwell either, a free-agent bust who the team couldn't wait to unload this offseason. While his attitude was questionable and he had little chance of ever living up to the six-year contract worth $63 million the Eagles gave him in the offseason, Maxwell actually got a little bit of unfair shake here. He made terrible first and last impressions, but was okay in between.

Whether he's one of the best corners in the NFL or not though, it turns out the Eagles probably could've used him this year. Leodis McKelvin is terrible, Nolan Carroll isn't much better, Ron Brooks is on injured reserve and the defense has had to ask way too much of seventh-round draft pick Jalen Mills.

It's just another example of how the Eagles improperly prepared at the position heading into this season. Trading Maxwell and then Eric Rowe to the Patriots as well — two players that accounted for 19 starts in 2015 — left the club little room for error with regard to how they filled those jobs.

The sad thing is, both Maxwell and Rowe are probably better than anything the Eagles have, and Maxwell in particular gets to go around bragging about how he's the best in the league. It's a gut punch to be certain, and amid an Eagles season increasingly filled with them.

Right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai (knee) is the only player who has been ruled out.

Ryan Mathews, who has missed the past two games with an MCL sprain, was a full participant on both Wednesday and Thursday. “Today, we’re going to back [Mathews] down just a touch, so we can keep him ready to go for Sunday,” head coach Doug Pederson said on Friday morning.

Jordan Matthews missed the Bengals game after injuring his ankle against the Packers. It was the first missed game of his career. Matthews was a limited participant on Wednesday for precautionary reasons, according to Pederson.

“[Matthews] was great on Thursday and no setbacks,” Pederson said. “He made it through practice. We look forward to having him a good day again today.”

It seems a little more likely that Matthews and Mathews will be able to play on Sunday than Green-Beckham.

Green-Beckham, who hurt his mid-section during the loss to the Bengals, wasn't able to practice on Wednesday or Thursday. Still, earlier in the week, Pederson said he thought DGB would be able to play this weekend.

“He’s still on that path,” Pederson said Friday. “He worked yesterday a little bit. It’s still sore. I want to see where he’s going to be today before making a full decision on him. I don’t want to risk having a guy out there that’s not 100 percent.”

With Green-Beckham and Matthews banged up, it looks like the Eagles will go into this game with just three fully healthy wide receivers – Nelson Agholor, Bryce Treggs and Paul Turner.

Pederson said there’s no immediate plan to sign another receiver to the 53-man roster.

So what’s the plan at wideout? The same thing the Eagles did last week.

“Well, I’ll probably lean more on the tight ends,” Pederson said. “Trey [Burton] has kind of taken that role the last couple of weeks. Trey Burton and Zach [Ertz] and Brent [Celek]. That’d be the direction we’d go.”